Ostarrichi Document Facsimile Edition

The term "Ostarrichi," an ancient name for Austria, was documented for the first time in a written record dated November 1, 996. This document, a donation from Emperor Otto III to Bishop Gottschalk of Hagenau of Freising, is today referred to as Ostarrichi Document and mentions "a region commonly known as Ostarrichi" (regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrichi), specifically referring to the area around Neuhofen-upon-Ybbs (in loco Niuuanhova dicto). Notably, the document, drafted in Latin, contains four words (Ostarrichi, Niuuanhova, hoba, zidalweidun) that are not in Latin; three of these are clearly in Old Bavarian or Old High German, indicating that the name Ostarrichi has Old Bavarian origins.

This historical mention does not suggest that the concept of Austria as a nation was only a thousand years old at that time, nor does it imply that the name Ostarrichi was immediately adopted across the region. Rather, it likely represents the first time the name was officially recorded in writing, documenting a term that had already been in common use for the area south of the Danube, known as Ostarrichi.